Start of Holy Week

After the previous week, we had hoped that this last week would have been a little more quiet so we could get caught up. However, that was not to be. We didn't get any new young missionaries, but we did get a new couple. They arrived on Tuesday morning and since President and Sister Heckmann had to be present in the mission Zoom call, they asked us to pick them up at the Airport. Their name is Janes (pronounced Ha'-nays). They are from Houston Texas, but are originally from Mexico. His parents are from Catalonia and so his last name is Catalan. I related all too well with them because when they got here they were jet-lagged beyond belief. But, instead of just giving them a place to crash we brought them back to the office where they arrived just in time to be introduced to the mission. Then they had to go through all of the checking in process so that we can get residency started. They also had to learn about the driving rules in Spain since they will be driving here. We ended up taking a car away from a pair of young missionaries for them to use. However, there was a little bit of damage to a tire, and so we spent the rest of that day, and all of the next getting a new pair of tires put on the car. After we got the tire situation straightened out, we put them in the car and told them to drive 4 hours away to live in an apartment outside of Valencia. I'm sure they were pretty overwhelmed. Yet, they are committed to doing what needs to be done, and as we talked with them Sister Janes kept saying "don't worry about us, we are big kids now". They are really sweet. 

Wednesday was MLC (Mission Leadership Council) where all of the zone leaders and sister training leaders meet all day with the President. We always get invited up to the President's house to eat lunch with them which is nice, but there is always a lot of traffic around the office with all of the comings and goings. It's fun to see these great young men and young women doing such wonderful work. I have to keep reminding myself that they just barely graduated from Young Men and Young Women. It's amazing how the Lord uses these sweet dedicated young disciples to do His work. 

We have spent some kind of late nights at the office to keep things up because of the extra stuff this week, and so when Friday came around, we were already kind of tired. Friday, of course, is Institute, and as fun as it is to be around that much energy, it seems to sap whatever we have left right out of us. We normally can't think of anything else we want to do except fall into bed around midnight and sleep without setting an alarm (which is wonderful).

What a special time to be a missionary! Our whole purpose is to invite Heavenly Father's children to come follow Him. What better time than during the week when the whole world is focussing on Him? We hope to follow Elder Stevenson's advice to really focus on the Savior this week leading into Easter Sunday. So, we are going to take time each day this week to read about what happened during the corresponding day in the last week of the Savior's life. His life, Atonement, and glorious Resurrection are what make it possible for us to return home to our Heavenly Father. The hope that we have in a glorious future comes because of Him. Any real joy we have in life comes because of Him. Any real meaning we may have in this life comes because of Him. It is our hope that you will all get to know Him a little better over this coming week. We are very grateful to be able to serve Him in some small way over here in Spain.

We love you all!

(Sorry, no pics this week)